Polkowice-Sieroszowice.
In the Polkowice concession, copper mineralization covers an area 22.2 km2 at depths of 381 m to 893 m below surface. In the Sieroszowice concession, which is contiguous with Polkowice, copper mineralization extends over an area of 59.6 km2 at depths greater than 657 m below surface.

There are significant variations in the development of the Zechstein. In the western and southwestern part of the Polkowice mining area, the lowermost Zechstein is developed in the oxidized facies (Red Spotted Facies) characterized by red hematite-bearing shale and red patches and spots in the underlying White Footwall Sandstone. Copper sulphides and silver mineralization are absent, but gold and platinoids appear instead, at least at the transitional zone between the oxidized and sulphide facies. The Red Spotted Facies passes laterally (north and northeastwards) into the Cupriferous Shale, which is overlain by sulphide-bearing dolomite. The underlying White Footwall Sandstone is barren, except near the boundary with the Lubin mining area and in the northern and northwestern parts of Sieroszowice.

Structurally, the Polkowice area is divided into two domains by the Biedrzychowa Fault. This is an east-northeast striking scissor fault with a throw up to 50 m and with short northeasttrending splay faults. The area situated to the northwest and north of the fault, including the Red Spotted Facies, has a simple monoclinal structure with a gentle dip to the northeast. In contrast, the area to the southeast and east of the fault is cut by reverse south- dipping faults with vertical displacement components of 50 m to 100 m. The southern margin of the area is marked by a pre-Tertiary outcrop. Reverse faulting dies out northeastwards and, eventually, the structure assumes fairly uniform monoclinal characteristics.

There are relatively few faults in the Sieroszowice area. Those that do occur have throws ranging from 0.5 m to several metres and some are flexures rather than faults. The monoclinal structure is gently folded into west-east trending open folds. This is unique to Sieroszowice and is due to the damping effect of a salt horizon that occurs some 15 m to 25 m above the Cupriferous Shale.

Shale-carbonate ore, which predominates in Polkowice and in the developed part of Sieroszowice, generally varies from 0.6 m to 4.5 m in thickness and decreases southwards towards the pre- Tertiary outcrop. Over much of the central part of the Sieroszowice area, the thickness is reduced to 1 m to 1.5 m. Despite a relatively small variability in copper grade, the internal structure is complicated because there are low grade and barren intercalations of variable thickness. Sandstone ore appears beneath shale-carbonate ore in the southern part of the Polkowice area where it adjoins the Lubin mine and over two large areas in the undeveloped northern part of the Sieroszowice area.

Much of the relatively rich shale-carbonate ore in the central part of the Polkowice area has been exhausted and some of the rich ore still remaining, including sandstone ore, is sterilized in shaft support pillars. The richest ore in Sieroszowice (200 kg Cu/m2 to more than 350 kg Cu/m2) occurs in the developed part of the area. The richest sections of the undeveloped portion of the mining area coincide with the occurrence of sandstone underlying the carbonate-shale ore. Yields in excess of 200 kg Cu/m2 to more than 350 kg Cu/m2 are indicated by drilling in the northwestern and northeastern parts of the area, respectively. Yields of this magnitude are significantly in excess of the cut-off of 50 kg Cu/m2.

In the part of the Sieroszowice mining area, above the copper ore deposit, at a distance of 80-100 metres, a deposit of rock salt has been documented, with a thickness ranging from 40 to 150 metres, from which over 300 thousand tonnes of rock salt are extracted annually for the domestic market.

Radwanice Wschód.
Copper mineralization that was delineated by drilling from surface occurs over an area of 12.8 km2 in the central-eastern part of the documented area called Radwanice Wschód (east). This area has been accessed and mined from the Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine.

Copper mineralization above the cut-off grade is contained only in the basal part of the Zechstein. Grades in the underlying sandstone do not exceed 0.4% Cu. The depth to the footwall varies from 503 m to 691 m below surface. The thickness of the drill intersections varies from 1.1 m to 4.2 m, and averages 2.89 m. Because of the proximity to the oxidized facies, copper grades change rapidly in both horizontal and vertical directions. The highest grades are in the Cupriferous Shale (maximum 13.1% Cu). Within the resource perimeter, grades vary from 1.51% to 3.55% Cu, averaging 2.11%. Silver grades vary from 25 g/t to 45 g/t, with an average of 32 g/t.

Deep Glogów.
The Deep Glogów area covers a strip of land running from northwest to southeast, bordered to the south by the Polkowice-Sieroszowice and Rudna mines and covering an area of approximately 56 km2. The deposit will be mined from the Rudna mine (50%) and the Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine (50%), and not as a separate operation.

The copper ore deposit in the Deep Glogów area is a continuation of the deposit from the existing adjacent mining areas. The deposit has been delineated by 42 holes drilled from the surface. The depth of the deposit ranges from 1,200 m to 1,400 m below surface. The thickness of the deposit ranges from 0.74 m to 4.13 m (average 2.11 m), with a varying intensity of mineralization and a varied lithological structure.

The thinnest parts of the deposit are in the western and central region (to the north of the Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine), where the ore occurs in the Cupriferous Shale and in the roof of the White Footwall Sandstone, as well as locally in the eastern region, to the north of the Rudna mine. Three lithological types of ore have been identified: carbonate ore with an average thickness of 0.49 m (27%), shale ore with thicknesses from 0.02 m to 0.81 m (13%), and sandstone ore with thicknesses from 1.15 m to 3.59 m (60%).

The mineralization occurs mainly in the form of small grains of sulphides, most often distributed evenly, but sometimes concentrated in the form of smudges and extended pockets. Locally, coarse-grain forms of mineralization occur as veins of varying thicknesses or irregularly located pockets.

All of the ore types found in the Deep Glogów deposit are dominated by simple copper sulphides: chalcocite and digenite. The accompanying elements include lead, silver, cobalt, zinc and nickel.

Mining in KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. is performed by three mining Divisions: Lubin, Rudna and Polkowice-Sieroszowice.

The technology of mining the copper ore in all 3 mines is based on the room-and-pillar system with the use of blasting technology for ore extraction. This involves access and preparatory work, comprised of the excavation of a drift network on all sides of the site to be mined, cutting of the unmined rock mass with rooms and drifts separating a number of operating pillars, as well as extraction of the ore followed by the transport of the ore to underground dumping stations, where the large rocks are crushed and sifted through a grate, and then the crushed muck is transported to the storage areas near the shafts, from which it is transported to the surface by skip hoisting shafts.

The work related to mining of the copper ore is fully mechanised, in a 4-shift labour system, with the use of motorised mining rigs, most of which are equipped with air-conditioned cabins and systems supporting the work of the operators. Mining work is conducted in the following cycle: drilling the blasting holes with the support of motorised drilling rigs, loading blasting material into drilled holes by motorised blasting rigs, group blasting in mining divisions, followed by the ventilation of the areas blasted (from 30 minutes to 2 hours; in seismically- sensitive areas this time may be longer). The next stage involves the loading of the muck using motorised loaders into haulage vehicles and its transport to dumping stations, along with protection of the exposed face by roof anchor bolts using bolting rigs. The crushed muck is transported by conveyor belts or mine rail trolleys to the storage sites near the shafts, and is then transported to the surface. After the muck is unloaded at the shaft top, it is transported by conveyor belts or railway to the ore concentrators located at each of the three mines.

The Polkowice-Sieroszowice Mine.
Polkowice and Sieroszowice were originally developed as separate mines but are now consolidated into a single operation for administrative purposes.

The Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine extracts both sandstone and shale-carbonate ore but, in contrast to the Lubin mine, the bulk of production is obtained from shale-carbonate ore. Ore thickness at Polkowice typically ranges from 0.6 to 4.5 m, with an average of about 2.5 m, while, at Sieroszowice, the typical range of thickness is from 0.7 to 4.5 m, with an average of about 2.0 m. Thicknesses in excess of 7 m are rarely encountered and hydraulic backfill is not used at the Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine.

The developed mining area at Polkowice-Sieroszowice ranges in depth between roughly 600 and 1,200 m. Operating conditions are generally relatively good, except at the more heavily faulted southern extremity of the mining area, where more difficult conditions may be encountered. Mining at greater depths in recent years has required the use of refrigerated air.

The Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine is serviced by a total of nine shafts, of which five are on the Polkowice concession and four are on the Sieroszowice concession. Of the shafts, three (P- 2, P-6, SW-1) are production shafts, and six (P-1, P-5, P-7, SW-3, SG-1, SG-2) operate as service and ventilation shafts. The combined capacity of the three production shafts is about 37,200 tonnes per day. Total ventilation capacity of all fans in the main ventilation system, including those on constituting standby reserve, is approximately 191,000 m3 /min, and the actual air flow through the mine is reported to be 142,000 m3/min.

The Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine covers a substantial area extending down the dip of the deposit to the north. The mine is developed by a series of levels, at depths below surface of 740, 810 and 850 m at Polkowice, and 700, 850, 1,000, 1,100 and 1,200 m at Sieroszowice. All levels are interconnected by access and conveyorways in the ore horizon.

As is the case at the Lubin mine, the ore transportation system at Polkowice-Sieroszowice utilizes a combination of belt conveyor and rail haulage. The underground workings at Polkowice-Sieroszowice are connected by conveyor haulage to the hoisting shafts at both Polkowice-Sieroszowice and Rudna.

The machine stock of the mine is also adapted to the parameters of the deposit, mainly its thickness. Drilling trucks, bolting trucks, blasting trucks, loaders and haulage trucks have a height of 1.4 to 2.00 m (the primary machine group is dedicated to a height of 1.7 m).

The Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine typically excavates rooms which are 6 m wide and up to 2.5 m high, extracting an ore horizon which averages 1 to 2.5 m in thickness. The ore is typically exposed on the footwall and a lower bench is mined prior to drilling and blasting the upper layer of waste. Backfill is not used and the roof is allowed to cave naturally.

A salt deposit occurs some 20 to 120 m above the copper-bearing horizon, and is mined at a rate of about 1,000 tonnes of rock salt per day. The existence of the salt is thought to have a damping effect on the severity of faulting in the lower, hard rock strata.

RECOVERY METHODS.
Production in KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. is a fully integrated process, in which the end product of one technological phase is the starting material (half-finished product) used in the next phase. Mining in KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. is performed by three mining Divisions: Lubin, Rudna and Polkowice-Sieroszowice. In the subsequent phase the Concentrators Division prepares concentrate for the smelters and refineries, while the Tailings Division is responsible for storing and managing the tailings generated by the copper ore enrichment process. The organisational structure of KGHM includes two metallurgical facilities: the Legnica Copper Smelter and Refinery and the Glogów Copper Smelter and Refinery, as well as the Cedynia copper wire rod plant.

The operations and processes applied at each of the three ore concentrators are the same. However, due to the varied lithological and mineralogical composition of the ore from individual mines, the production layout of ........